Poplart in Thesinge

In the summer of 2015, I worked on a project in Thesinge, called Poplart. Poplart is theatre, in a not so common theatre. The play, which will be called “De Omslag” (The turn-around) is based on the life changing experience of Hendrik Werkman, printer and artist in Groningen.

The play is performed in a wooden cube, about 6 by 6 meters wide and high, and designed by Groninger architect Haiko Meijer and theatre maker Michiel Johannes Jansen. The cube, being constructed of poplar wood, is entirely dismountable, and therefore it has traveled around the Groninger landscape every year, and this year it will be constructed again in Thesinge.

To get to know the theatre, and to integrate the people of the small village of Thesinge in the process, the team of Poplart organises a number of events. For the first video, I recorded the event, where we made soup, collected daisies, learned about the Thesinger landscape and Heiko’s obsession with cubic shapes.

The second evening shows Volkskrant photographer Harry Cock and writer Sanneke van Hassel, who will both be creating work inspired by Thesinge.

On the third evening we helped Michel Jansen from Kleinstesoepfabriek (Smallest Soup Factory) again, this time making a fish and shrimp soup. Anneke de Vries and Aldrik Salveda from Grafisch Centrum Groningen tell about Werkman’s work and their own, and Rita Berghuis, professional quiltster, explained us how she is making the background-pieces for the theatre decor, with the help of the schoolchildren of Thesinge.